DAVID CAMERON RECEIVES TORRENT OF ABUSE AFTER JOINING TWITTER

Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron

David Cameron has signed up to Twitter, prompting users of the social networking site to inundate him with hundreds of hostile messages.

In his first tweet via @david_cameron, the prime minister wrote: "I'm starting Conference with this new Twitter feed about my role as Conservative Leader. I promise there won't be 'too many tweets...'".

He followed up by posting a photograph of himself meeting staff at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, then fell silent for several hours.

In the meantime, a torrent of abuse filled his Twitter timeline. Some disgruntled tweeters used it to attack the government's policies. Some expressed their dislike for Cameron in colourful language. Others merely mocked.

Political opponents were among those who joined the fray. John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister and a Twitter stalwart, gleefully reposted a series of questions poking fun at Cameron's upper crust background.

Cameron has previously spoken of his reluctance to follow in the footsteps of many other high profile politicians in joining Twitter. Asked about it during a radio interview in 2009, he remarked: "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many tweets might make a twat." He later apologised for the comments.